During the 2018-2019 school year approximately 16,000 students did not have vaccine information on file with Hamilton Public Health. There are reportedly about 80,000 students in Hamilton. Photo Credit: Blue Cross Blue Shield.
Hamilton Public Health recently updated city council on student vaccinations, with the agency saying that students born between 2006 and 2009 who are missing vaccination records will be suspended on or after March 5.
In Ontario, the Immunization of School Pupils Act stipulates that all children who are between 4 and 17 years old and attend school are required to be immunized for specific diseases “or have a valid medical or philosophical exemption in place.”
Under the Act students must be vaccinated against diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), tetanus, poliomyelitis, measles, mumps, rubella, meningococcal diseases, and varicella (chicken pox – for children born 2010 or later).
It should be noted that COVID-19 vaccines are not mandatory for students.
However, during the 2022 provincial election campaign the Ontario Liberals made a campaign statement that they would add COVID-19 vaccines “to the compulsory immunization schedule for all children attending public schools in Ontario” if they were elected.
The Ontario NDP also supported the move.
But Premier Doug Ford and the Ontario PC Party were elected to a second term and COVID-19 vaccines were not added to the list.
Regarding students who may be suspended as early as March, a report to council from Jordan Walker, who serves as the Director of the Communicable Disease Control Division at Hamilton Public Health, says that screening letters were sent to those students in November 2023.
Walker’s report notes that since the COVID-19 pandemic, “there has been a decrease in overall immunization rates among children for routine childhood and school-age vaccinations.”
Public Health primarily attributes that decrease to the fact that school-based vaccine clinics were impacted by the pandemic as focus was diverted towards managing COVID-19.
But it is possible that general vaccine hesitancy may have also increased during the pandemic since questions about vaccine safety and vaccine mandates were top of mind.
Additionally, some students are figured to have received their vaccinations but have not provided the proper documentation to Hamilton Public Health.
As for parents who wish to get their children exempted, medical exemptions for reasons such as allergies require a healthcare provider to fill out a medical exemption form and submit it to Public Health.
Those who wish to exempt their children for religious or conscientious reasons must attend a Public Health education session, complete a form, and have that form notarized by a notary public.
During the 2018-2019 school year approximately 16,000 students did not have vaccine information on file with Hamilton Public Health. There are reportedly about 80,000 students in Hamilton.
Of that number, approximately 3,400 students ended up being suspended from school, although most orders of suspension were reportedly rescinded within the first week.
Suspensions may be up to a maximum of 20 school days.
The Hamilton Spectator obtained data from Public Health that indicates that over one third of students (20,000+) are currently missing vaccine information.
It is important to note that at this time suspension orders will only be issued to students born between 2006 and 2009 who are missing vaccination records.
Those with other birth years may be issued suspensions in the near future, but not during this school year.
Those born between 2010 and 2019 will reportedly be screened and notified in three separate waves broken down by birth year.
Those screening letters will be sent between March and June 2024.
Public Health also told Councillors that they have a multi-year plan to reduce noncompliance rates in the city and that additional birth cohorts could face suspension over the next three to four years.
The agency has a goal of achieving “full compliance for all age cohorts by the 2026/27 school year.”
Based in Hamilton, he reaches hundreds of thousands of people monthly on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. He has been published in The Hamilton Spectator, Stoney Creek News, and Bay Observer. He has also been a segment host with Cable 14 Hamilton. In 2017, he received the Chancellor Full Tuition Scholarship from the University of Ottawa (BA, 2022). He has also received the Governor General’s Academic Medal. He formerly worked in a non-partisan role on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
